A tribute to and catalogue of the works of Alexander "Hugin" Wieser, founder of ambient black metal band Uruk Hai and many other side-projects, including Hrossharsgrani, Hrefnesholt, Elisabetha, B-Machina, Ceremony of Innocence and more!
Here you will find my thoughts on his work and details on the releases as drawn from items in my personal collection, forming a fuller catalogue of his work than is currently available elsewhere online

Thursday, 1 October 2015

THEATER DES GRAUENS

Band: ELISABETHATitle: Theater Des Grauens (Theatre Of Horror)Format: Although unreleased, the artwork looks to have been gearing up for a tape releaseEdition: N/A

The latest in our series of rarities from Hugin's archive features a unissued demo from Vampyric project, Elisabetha.

Based on the proposed track listing above, and to a degree the theme of the chosen artwork, it's evident that this release is what eventually became the "Nosferat" demo of 2003. Most of the 11 songs above feature on the "Nosferat" cassette, with the addition of songs 'Akasha' and 'Bathori (Sturm einer Winternacht)' at tracks 9 and 13 respectively and the omission of 'Wenn Doch Der Morgen', which is supplanted by 'Im Schatten Jener Nacht, In Der Ich Starb'. So it's broadly the same, but not quite!

The cover features renowned actor Max Schreck, the insanely creepy 6' 3" German who vividly portrayed Nosferatu in the 1922 film of the same name. He died on the morning of February 20th, 1936 from a heart attack, presumably after forgetting to change out of his make-up prior to looking in the mirror to shave. For posterity, and as he has such a cool look, he's another somewhat clearer picture of the old vampyr himself.

Similarities to Kenji Siratori are purely coincidental...

There's a 1973 film by this title starring another classic actor, Vincent Price. He stars as Edward Lionheart, an actor overlooked for a critics' acting award, despite producing a season of Shakespeare plays. After confronting the Critics' Circle, an attempted suicidal dive into the Thames results in Lionheart being rescued by your typical paraffin/meths/turps swigging tramps. Lionheart then (presumed dead) exacts his grizzly, and - apparently - 'quite amusing' revenge on the critics who denied him his finest hour.

So there's an advance heads-up what to expect should Hugin not win the Global Rockstar this year...!